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Biggest Newbie Question EVER!
Having never busked before i have no......hat. I was wondering what exactly i should use to collect money in. Any help would be awesome. Thanks
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I use a big plastic fire hydrant meant to store dog biscuits. -
i use a trophy , or at least half of one (the `plastic part broke).It has the big bonus of making noise when money is dropped , and is a little ironic .Comment
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Our finale is a flaming medieval swordfight.
Our main hat last year was a big steel helmet from a suit of armour (though, it was a bit heavy. We'll likely be downgrading to a slightly less menacing tin can with a smiley face cut out.)
Cheers.Comment
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Hats -- I started off with a metal lunch bucket (that I actually used when I worked in a factory as a youngester). One night on Jackson Square in New Orleans a cop drove over it. He was truely sorry and pulled a twenty dollar bill out of his wallet & asked if that would cover the dammage. Of course I said it would (better a guilt-laden cop than one who thinks he's been snookered) -- even though I had seen the same lunch bucket in a culinary antiques store here for $100 (admittedly the $100 bucket still had the glass-lined Thermos bottle still intact)!
I replaced the lunch bucket with a Wal*Mart tool box made in Israel. I worked just fine, but didn't make as satisfying a sound when hit with a handful of change (that was back in the days when I welcomed ANY contribution...even change.
Then I had the good fortune to be invited to play Mallory Dock in Key West. As a newbie the folks there were very helpful and always found a spot for me. The first night out the wind just howled -- enough so that I couldn't trust the low walls of the tool box to keep my tips safe. Back to Wal*Mart. A deep bucket with latching top and carry handle popped into view. It was for storing pet food. The wind holwed again the next night -- blew the dog-food bucket right across the pavement -- tips stayed inside, though.
I had a retangular one liter "Nalgene" water bottle for hiking. It fit the bottom of the bucket with some room all around. Filled with water it made the bucket heavy enough to stay in place. A secondary benefit was I could sweep change down along the sides of the water bottle -- the bills were the only money visible -- thus reinforcing the notion that bills are a more acceptable tip than change. My take in change dropped radically. Win-win.
I also put a bicycle red flasher in the bucket, it lights up the white plastic of the bucket beautifuly. Fewer people ask where to put tips, fewer people try to interupt my playing by handing tips directly to me. Win-win. [img]wink.gif[/img]Comment
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I use a HUGE laundry bucket that i got for $5.00 at FAMILY DOLLAR STORE and it doubles as a carrying bin for other gadgets needed in the show.
I've seen people use big garbage cans, laundry bags, etc. It is my personal opinion that the bigger the hat, the funnier.( just my opinion)Comment
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Hey, Amazing --
Big hats rule -- and I'm talking both phsically and financialy of course. One of the funniest hat lines I've seen (at least the FIRST time), was the Jackson Square Bird Man (the magician Ishtawa) who steps up on his milk crate stage, holds out a Cat-In-The-Hat style chapeau and says, "That's my show, now all I ask is you fill up my hat...." He then drops the "crown" of the hat -- it's a six foot long tube! <img src="graemlins/jester.gif" border="0" alt="[jester]" />Comment
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I my Hat...boring I know...Comment
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When fire performing, I used a red and black spray painted box with a hat inside it on a little three legged foldup stool.
Boring i know, but often people who left because they had to go dropped money it as they were leaving.
I only once had some drunk guy take ahandful of notes and change and wander off, and, when i told the guys about to beat the **** out of him to leave him as he probably needs it more than me, everyone got up and emptied their pockets into it, giving me tons more than i had before he nicked it...Comment
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